Cushioned wrapping material



Aug. 2, 1955 I P. BROWN 2,714,570

CUSHIONED WRAPPING MATERIAL Filed Nov. 5, *1951 i: :I i: :z :1g/si] mi 9I r I II/3`II :INTI I i III Il Il :I l: III I' UI @l I i I ,I l llif."|I W I|M|| l': l: |:1,| @gl l Y f y II :I I I I I I I I I u ::::;:|;;Il@I f l l Mi wwwl: @l I Il I l {l we Il :i 4:1 i! uw@ I I I l il Il ,llll HQI I: I II 1I I I I INVENTOR. I|IIII||I| /Uaz//fwap I L l; 1| l; ILI HIS ATTORN United States Patent4 O CUSHIONED WRAPPING MATERIAL PaulBrown, Walpole, N. H., assignor to Packaging Materials Corp.,Providence, R. I., a corporation of Rhode `Island Application November3, 1951, Serial No. 254,693

1 Claim. (Cl. 154-55) Thisinvention `relates to cushioned wrappingmaterials ,for use in packingfragile articles forshipment or storage andis a `specific improvement in the packaging material `disclosed in thepatent to E. L. Perry No. 2,209,537.

desired.

The `object of the present invention is to provide a cushioned wrappingmaterial which is composed in large measure of fibrous stock which hasbeen reclaimed, more particularly used paper pulp, the wrapping materialcon- `sequentlybeing low in cost, at the same time, however, possessing:remarkable cushioning properties in `addition to -unusual strength.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cush ioned wrappingmaterial which, when wrapped about an article such as a glass bottle orbowl, for example, and secured by means of twine or adhesive paper tape,will provide sufficient protection for ordinary shipment either with orwithout a box or carton.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cushioned wrappingmaterial of the sort just referred to which is sufficiently low in costso that it can be used by the yard from a roll like ordinary wrappingpaper, and therefore is available for use by department stores, and thelike, in preparing articles for delivery.

ln the accompanying drawings 1 have illustrated my improved cushionedwrapping material in the form of a flat sheet, together with onemodification thereof.

In these drawings,

Fig. i is a fragmentary plan view showing the improved wrappingmaterial;

Fig. 2 is a detail section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another detail section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. l looking from the opposite side of thesheet; and

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. l of a modified form of the packingmaterial.

Referring to these drawings, 1 indicates generally the form of theimproved wrapping material illustrated in Figs. l-4 which comprises asheet 2 of molded corrugated paper similar to that disclosed in thePerry patent above mentioned but without the backing sheet thereindescribed. This sheet is formed by molding the pulp directly into acorrugated sheet in accordance with the procedure set forth in PerryPatent No. 2,221,200.

The molded corrugated sheet 2 is formed with a series of spaced parallelribs 3 of molded felted pulp connected by intervening portions 4 also ofmolded pulp, which join the base portions of the ribs and which areflexible and thinner than the ribs 3. The face of the sheet oppositeribs 3, as shown, is not smooth but presents a rough air-dried finishwith shallow grooves 5 underlying the 2,714,570 Patented Aug. 2, 1-955Yribs 3. Although the intervening portions or strips 4.are

nearly llat on both sides and are of substanitally uniform `thicknesstheyare slightly convex in the direction of the ribs 3, and they arealso slightly dished on the opposite side between .the ribs asiindicatedat 6.

Because vof `the flexibility of the intermediate portions `4, the moldedsheet 1 can be readily folded along lines parallel with the ribs 3. Awrapping material, however,

must be flexible in `at least two directions in order to jpermit it toconform to irregular surfaces, and in order to vrender corrugated sheet1 foldable along lines transverse to ribs 3, that is in such a manner asto bend or curve these ribs, the ribs 3 are scored with a series of.spaced parallel score lines `or indentations 7 rextending transverselyof the ribs.

These score lines maybe formed in the corrugated sheet on Vthe moldingmachine in the manner illustrated in the co-pending application ofEugene L. Perry, Serial No. 100,702, now Patent No. 2,668,786, but thescore lines are preferably Lformed in the finished sheet by running thecorrugated sheet through scoring rollers having scoring `knives spacedthe desired distance apart. The finished sheet may be advantageouslyscored by the use Vof the apparatus disclosed in my co-pendingapplication, .Serial No. 254,691, now Patent No. 2,680,996, filedcontemporaneouslyherewith. The scoring knives preferably lhave a narrow-flat-edge so as to form at the bottom of each scoring 7 a narrow flatsurface as shown in Fig. 2. These narrow flat ,surfaces at the bottoms`of the scorings form the -narrowest portions ofthe scorings since, asmay `be seen in Fig. 2, they graduallywiden as theymergento .thestraight portions of the ribs 3 between the scorings.

The scorings extend to less than the thickness of ribs 3 and preferablyto about one-half of their thickness. Wide scorings of this characterpermit the finished sheet to be bent lengthwise of the ribs to a veryconsiderable extent before resistance to further bending is produced bycontact of the opposite sides of the V-shaped scoring notches. Thepresence of these score lines does not lessen the protection afforded bythe packing sheet when wrapped about a frangible article but serves tofacilitate folding the ends of the sheet along lines transverse to theribs 3.

The molded sheet or board 1, since it has a rough airdried surface, doesnot have an acceptable appearance for use as a wrapping material, and inorder to overcome this diflculty without increasing the flexibility andthe resilient character of the sheet 1, I apply to the surface of sheet1 opposite the corrugated side, in other words, to the relatively llatside of the sheet, a backing sheet 8 of thin paper having a smooth outersurface. This sheet is secured to the molded corrugated sheet 1 bycementing the two together in limited areas separated or spaced apartfrom one another.

These cementing areas preferably comprise stripes 9 of adhesiveextending in spaced parallel relation crosswise with respect to thedirection of the ribs 3. Such stripes or lines of adhesive usually areinterrupted lengthwise by the shallow grooves 5 (Fig. 3)), and moreover,the over-all roughness and irregularity of the surface of the corrugatedsheet 2 may itself interrupt the continuity of the adhesive so that eachstripe may tend to become a series of spots, the limited areas ofconnection between the corrugated sheet 2 and the smooth sheet 1 thusbecoming separated from one another lengthwise as well as crosswise ofthe sheet. The width of these adhesive stripes 9, and the amount oftheir separation or spacing from one another are so chosen as to preventthe backing sheet 8 from increasing substantially the flexibility of thecomposite material, and at the same time unite the two sheets to such anextent that they will not separate from one another in use. Although theapplication of the adhesive in a series of stripes amounts substantiallyto applying it in spots, the application may, if desired, be made inspots 10 uniformly separated in both directions of the sheet, as shownfor example in Fig. 4. Any suitable cement which does not signiicantlyharden or stiifen the paper may be used. A casine glue such as widelyused in the manufacture of coated paper is satisfactory.

The use of a thin backing sheet 8, causing it to adhere to corrugatedsheet 1 by limited areas of adhesive separated from one another insteadof coating the entire contacting surfaces with cement, does not impairthe exible and cushioning properties of the corrugated molded sheet 1and at the same time provides a cushioned wrapping sheet material whichgreatly reduces the percentage of broken articles and has a smoothexterior surface which imparts a neat appearance to any article wrappedtherewith.

With the improved packing material the surfaces of the articles are incontact only with the crowns of the corrugated ribs 3 which are ofmolded loosely felted material and provide cushioning qualities whichwill prevent breakage of frangible articles of glassware such as lightbulbs, goblets, drinking glasses and the like.

The modified form of cushioned packing material shown in Fig. 5 issimilar to that described above, except for the scoring of the ribs 3 ofthe corrugated sheet 1. Instead of providing score lines which are atright angles to the ribs as in Fig. 1, the ribs 3a are provided withdouble score lines 10 and 11. These score lines are at right angles toeach other, but each series of score lines is arranged at an angle of 45to the direction of the ribs 3a. Consequently, assuming for exampletliat the sheet shown in Fig. 5 is square, it can be readily foldedalong either diagonal line from one opposite corner to the other. It isnot essential that the score lines 10 and 11 cross each other on each ofthe ribs, but it is important that the series of diagonal score lines 10and 11 of the ribs be in line with one another, and, similarly, as tothe series of score lines 11. The two series of score lines 10 and 11can be easily produced by a scoring roll having two series of helicallyarranged knives which cross each other at right angles as shown in theabove-mentioned co-pending application.

The wrapping material of this invention is readily produced in onecontinuous operation by means of the appa ratus disclosed in myco-pending application, Serial No. 254,691, now Patent No. 2,680,996, inWhich the backing sheet 8 is applied to the web from the molding machineas it leaves the dryer, and then is passed through the scoring rolls andwound upon a take-up roll.

I claim:

As a new article of manufacture, a flexible sheet of corrugated packingmaterial comprising a sheet having on one side parallel ribs built up ofloosely felted pulp, said ribs being substantially thicker than theportions of the sheet intermediate the ribs which are also of looselyfelted pulp, shallow grooves on the reverse side of the sheet underlyingsaid ribs leaving parallel strips having non-Hat surfaces on saidreverse side between said grooves, scorings extending transversely ofsaid ribs and to a depth less than the thickness of said ribs andinsufficient to form protrusions on said reverse side of the sheet, saidscorings having substantially dat narrow bottom surfaces, and a tiexiblereinforcing sheet cemented to separate area portions of said non-flatinter-groove strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.20,034 Ives July 14, 1936 1,965,265 Spohn July 3, 1934 2,209,537 PerryIuly 30, 1940 2,503,874 Ives Apr. 11, 1950

